Big Top Hollywood

It’s a month to Oscar which means it’s time to yell at Vanity Fair for its annual Hollywood Issue. As always, the limited diversity that’s featured in this supposed celebration of the best of the industry is hidden behind the cover. Of course, yes, they suck for this, totally. But if the Hollywood Issue is a reflection of Hollywood, well, isn’t this actually a pretty accurate reflection of Hollywood? Hollywood is white and no women over 40 are allowed.

Yes, sh-t on Vanity Fair, go ahead. At the same time, sh-t on Hollywood too. And, well, maybe we should also sh-t on ourselves. Hollywood caters to an audience that either shapes it or rewards it or both. I’m not sure the viewer here is entirely innocent though. I’ve already written about that in relation to this specific event several times. Click here for a refresher.

For 2013 it’s some kind of circus theme. The portraits inside are all big top and Old Hollywood. Click here to flip through the images. And click here to read about the insufferable privilege of these magazine people -- during production of this massive effort to make celebrities pretty in pictures, it was Hurricane Sandy time so some of them had to walk 80 blocks to get a cell signal, for courage!

And was it worth it?

To me, and I love Emma Stone, this is probably the most uninspired Hollywood Issue in years. And 2012 was pretty boring. Click here to see Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Rooney Mara, and Mia Wasikowska. In comparison, 2011 was definitely better with Anne Hathaway, James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Ryan Reynolds -- click here for that. And that wasn’t as good as 2010 featuring Abbie Cornish, Carey Mulligan, and Kristen Stewart -- click here for that.

But if you start going back and back, all the recent ones suck when measured against what came before. You will gasp for example looking back at 2003. It’s Jack!

Oh...

So only men over 40 are allowed on the cover of the Hollywood Issue? Go back a few years -- when was the last time a woman over 40 was featured on Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue?

It’s race and it’s also sex.

Go back to 2002 and you might find yourself closing your eyes and dipping your head at the sight of Brittany Murphy.

So in 2023 -- frightening! --will we feel any differently when we return to this now, Affleck, Stone, and Cooper covering Vanity Fair’s Hollywood 2013?